My Lady Muse
by Kitsune Moonstar
Summary: AU. Shunsui Kyoraku might be a world renowned artist, but he has one major inspiration.


Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**My Lady Muse**

"So tell us about this new show, Mr. Kyoraku? Is it really true that none of these works have been viewed by the public before?"

Shunsui smiled easily at the reporter. He was used to doing these interviews. Being a world renowned artist would do that to you. However, this particular show held a spot close to his heart. Every single one of the pictures in this collection featured his lady muse. It spanned from some of his earliest work to a picture that had been finished just last week.

"Until today, they've all been in a private collection; that is true. I have to say, though, these are some of my best work. I didn't really want to show them until the series was complete."

"Just what is the basis for this collection? I notice that you have a wide variety of materials represented here."

"Given that these span my entire career so far, that's not too surprising." Shunsui smiled. "But the unifying theme for this collection is my lady muse. She appears in every single one of these works."

* * *

He had first seen her on a spring afternoon in a park. Shunsui had been sixteen and out working with his sketchbook. He had already known that he wanted to make his living as an artist. He had been looking for inspiration when he spotted her. The girl couldn't have been more than six years old. Her raven hair was cut short, and she wore wire rimmed glasses that were too large for her face. Dressed in her school uniform, she clutched a book to her chest as she looked up at the falling cherry blossoms. The look on her face was sad and wistful. What Shunsui really wanted to was go over and hug her. Instead, he had sketched every detail of her that he could see.

Shunsui hadn't exactly forgotten about her after that, but the sketches didn't get looked at again until he was in need of an entry for an art competition. He was searching his sketchbook for ideas when he had stumbled upon her. The submission had ended up being a charcoal and color pencil drawing of her dressed for Tanabata and looking up at fireworks. He had won first place with it. And after that he had adopted the girl as his muse. Every year since then there had been a Tanabata picture with her in it.

She had grown older in each picture, and the medium had changed over the years. There was a watercolor of her playing the fish scoop game and an oil painting of her amidst Tanabata decorations. His lady muse had found her way into other works as well, but she was always in the Tanabata pieces. Shunsui hadn't actually run into her again until he had already been established as an artist. In fact, it had been ten years later when he finally actually met his muse.

At that point his work was exclusively in his friend Jyuushiro's gallery. It was just a little place in Hiroshima, but it had a good reputation, and Shunsui trusted Jyuu. His friend had the tendency of hiring local students to help run the place, and one Saturday Shunsui had walked into the gallery to find his muse manning the front counter. It had taken Shunsui several minutes to get over his shock and find out that her name was Nanao Ise and she was sixteen.

It took some time, but he and his Nanao-chan developed a teasing friendship. He teased; she ignored him. He flirted with her; she hit him. Life was good. Nanao was still an inspiration, but he didn't mention that fact to her. And she still showed up in his yearly Tanabata picture. It was also that year that he learned that Tanabata, July seventh, was Nanao's birthday. The image of her in a navy blue yukata patterned with fireworks would stay with him for years. He had come into the gallery to see if Jyuu had any plans for the evening to find Nanao manning the front counter in her yukata. When questioned about her attire, Nanao had blushed and admitted that it was her birthday and she was going out with some friends later.

That year his Tanabata picture ended up being a group of girls in yukata laughing together. It had also been then that Shunsui had discovered what he felt for Nanao wasn't strictly friendship. He and Nanao had walked to the festival together, and Shunsui had insisted on buying her a birthday present before they parted ways. A pair of sandalwood combs craved with cherry blossoms and maple leaves proved to be perfect for her as she liked to wear her hair up. Nanao had blushed and insisted it was too much. Shunsui had won the argument in the end though, and she had kissed his cheek in thank you.

As he watched her run off to meet with her friends, Shunsui was struck with the realization that he had never met a woman quite like Nanao, and that he wasn't sure what he'd do if she wasn't around. It was something he tried to ignore for the next few years. He was ten years older than she was after all. It wasn't appropriate for him to be mooning over her like a lovesick teenager. But Shunsui couldn't help notice that she was in his pictures more often than not anymore.

The year Nanao turned eighteen and announced she had received a full scholarship to study at Kyoto Women's University, Shunsui finally accepted the fact that he was in love with her. Her first summer in Kyoto, Shunsui was deliberately there for Tanabata. He had the pretext of a meeting about a painting commission, but he was really there to see her. He bribed her with her favorite sweet, momiji manju, to let him take her out to the festival for the evening. That year was the first time he himself had been in one of the pictures. He had done a depiction of the weaver princess and her cowherd.

Shunsui kissed her that night. It wasn't much of a kiss, but it was a start. And Nanao hadn't hit him because of it. Of course, it would be another year before they had a proper date. Of course, it did have to be mentioned that their relationship did not follow the normal pattern. Two years later two months after Nanao's twentieth birthday, and after about five dates all together, Shunsui married his muse. Nanao had actually been the one to propose to him. She had marched into his studio, interrupted his work on that year's Tanabata picture, and informed him that if he wanted to marry her, he should stop pussyfooting around and just do it. Shunsui had been trying to subtly sound her out about the idea.

Once they had gotten married, Nanao became the first person besides himself to see the entire collection of art so far. It was probably a good thing that he had already admitted to Nanao about her being his muse for all these years. Otherwise, it might have come off a little stalkerish. Shunsui ended up painting the wedding of the weaver princess and her cowherd for the next year's picture, once again using Nanao and himself for models. It had taken him a little longer than he expected to finish. Of course, that had to due with the fact that as he was finishing the painting, Nanao had made the announcement that she was pregnant, and he had been a little distracted.

Their son, Tatsuyoshi, had made his debut in the next Tanabata picture, and Shunsui realized that, looking back, this collection of works was really an example of art imitating life. Almost every single important event in his life since he had met Nanao was reflected somehow in the Tanabata works. These pictures had chronicled his friendship and romance with Nanao. It was a little mind-boggling when he actually thought about it. Tatsuyoshi would be a fixture in the artworks from that point on along with Nanao. The last few years had seemed to just fly by. Shunsui couldn't believe how quickly his son seemed to grow. He had actually started elementary school just this last year.

Shunsui wasn't sure which of the twenty-one paintings was his favorite, but the last one was probably one of the top candidates for that. It showed the entire family dressed for the festival and watching the fireworks. Tatsuyoshi was perched on his father's shoulders while Nanao held Miyako, who would have been all of three months old at the time. He hadn't quite captured the look on Nanao's face, but Shunsui wasn't sure that anyone could really capture the quiet love that she expressed. It was one of the things that was unique to Nanao.

* * *

"So, what makes your muse such an inspiration?"

Shunsui smiled, glancing over at the elegant dark haired woman standing with Jyuushiro and the others who had helped put on this exhibition.

"Everything."


End file.
